Yahoo adds plug-ins to Messenger

Yahoo Messenger has launched a new version of its service that lets users add customised plug-ins. Plug-ins are free mini applications that can be easily added to the Yahoo! Messenger experience to make it that more personal and interactive – such as an Amazon.co.uk plug-in that lets users share wish lists with friends and family and an eBay plug-in that shows their bidding activity. Yahoo has also added other enhancements to the beta service, including increasing the number of friends you can store in your list to 1,000, a new ‘Soundboard’ that lets you add short sound effects into voice conversations – such as 'audience booing' and 'birds chirping', and increasing the file transfer limit to 1GB. Yahoo Messenger has also opened up its Application Program Interfaces (APIs) so third parties can build plug-ins. Isabelle Wies, Yahoo Messenger senior product manager, said: "We are inviting developers to use Yahoo Messenger plug-in technology in new and creative ways and believe that our [users] will benefit from industry-wide innovation as a result." Yahoo has developed a range of its own plug-ins, including Yahoo 360°, Yahoo Answers, as well as one that lets users listen to and personalise a virtual radio station, and others that provide the latest financial and breaking news. Microsoft today also announced IM news, releasing the successor to MSN Messenger, Windows Live Messenger. The new service still allows traditional instant messaging, but also lets people make free PC-to-PC calls and inexpensive phone calls from a PC to a phone. Contacts will also be able to create a folder to share documents and photos with friends. http://yahoo.co.uk/messenger http://ideas.live.com